PROVIDENCE (RI)
Wall Street Journal
Associated Press
PROVIDENCE, R.I. — A judge on Wednesday ordered the unsealing of documents related to a disgraced Roman Catholic organization called the Legion of Christ as it faces questions about its relationship to wealthy elderly patrons, but the religious order immediately moved to block it.
Superior Court Judge Michael Silverstein called the public’s right to fully scrutinize the documents “paramount.”
The Associated Press, The New York Times, The Providence Journal and the National Catholic Reporter had asked the judge to unseal the documents, which are from a lawsuit filed by a woman contesting the will of a wealthy aunt who left the Legion of Christ $60 million. The media organizations’ attorney, Joseph Cavanagh, argued the documents could shed light on the Legion’s operations and there was no justification to seal them.
The Legion, founded in Mexico City in 1941, calls itself a religious congregation of pontifical right and says its mission involves “extending the Kingdom of Christ in society,” according to its website. The Vatican took over the Legion in 2010 after determining that its late founder, the Rev. Marcial Maciel, had sexually molested seminarians and fathered three children by two women. The Legion has faced other complaints, including one from someone who claims to be one of Maciel’s children.
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